48th Annual Caribbean Carnival returns to Crown Heights Monday

Revelers participate in the annual West Indian Day parade held on September 1, 2014 in the Brooklyn borough of New York City. The parade, which draws a crowd of a million plus, celebrates Caribbean culture. Photo Credit: Getty Images / Yana Paskova

The tropical sounds of steel drums will breeze down Eastern Parkway Monday when the West Indian Day Parade parties its way through Crown Heights, in the city's annual Caribbean Carnival, now in its 48th year.

Thousands are expected to attend the celebration of Caribbean history, arts and culture, featuring spectacular traditional costumes, Calypso and dance.

The parade will be lead by three grand marshals this year: Maxine Williams, who is the Global Director of Diversity at Facebook, Governor of U.S. Virgin Islands Kenneth E. Mapp, who was born in Brooklyn, and Secretary Treasurer of the Transport Workers Union, Local 100, Earl Phillips.